Hemostasis, the control of bleeding, occurs by surgical means, or by the physiological properties of vasoconstriction and coagulation. This invention is particularly concerned with blood coagulation and ways in which it assists in maintaining the integrity of mammalian circulation after injury, inflammation, disease, congenital defect, dysfunction or other disruption. Although platelets and blood coagulation are both involved in thrombus formation, certain components of the coagulation cascade are primarily responsible for the amplification or acceleration of the processes involved in platelet aggregation and fibrin deposition.
Thrombin is a key enzyme in the coagulation cascade as well as in hemostasis. Thrombin plays a central role in thrombosis through its ability to catalyze the conversion of fibrinogen into fibrin and through its potent platelet activation activity. Direct or indirect inhibition of thrombin activity has been the focus of a variety of recent anticoagulant strategies as reviewed by Claeson, G., “Synthetic Peptides and Peptidomimetics as Substrates and Inhibitors of Thrombin and Other Proteases in the Blood Coagulation System”, Blood Coag. Fibrinol., 5:411-436 (1994). Several classes of anticoagulants currently used in the clinic directly or indirectly affect thrombin (i.e. heparins, low-molecular weight heparins, heparin-like compounds and coumarins).
A prothrombinase complex, including Factor Xa (a serine protease, the activated form of its Factor X precursor and a member of the calcium ion binding, gamma carboxyglutamyl (Gla)-containing, vitamin K dependent, blood coagulation glycoprotein family), converts the zymogen prothrombin into the active procoagulant thrombin. Unlike thrombin, which acts on a variety of protein substrates as well as at a specific receptor, factor Xa appears to have a single physiologic substrate, namely prothrombin. Since one molecule of factor Xa may be able to generate up to 138 molecules of thrombin (Elodi et al., Thromb. Res. 15:617-619 (1979)), direct inhibition of factor Xa as a way of indirectly inhibiting the formation of thrombin may be an efficient anticoagulant strategy. Therefore, it has been suggested that compounds which selectively inhibit factor Xa may be useful as in vitro diagnostic agents, or for therapeutic administration in certain thrombotic disorders, see e.g., WO 94/13693.
Polypeptides derived from hematophagous organisms have been reported which are highly potent and specific inhibitors of factor Xa. U.S. Pat. No. 4,588,587 describes anticoagulant activity in the saliva of the Mexican leech, Haementeria officinalis. A principal component of this saliva was shown to be the polypeptide factor Xa inhibitor, antistasin (ATS), by Nutt, E. et al., “The Amino Acid Sequence of Antistasin, a Potent Inhibitor of Factor Xa Reveals a Repeated Internal Structure”, J. Biol. Chem., 263:10162-10167 (1988). Another potent and highly specific inhibitor of Factor Xa, called tick anticoagulant peptide (TAP), has been isolated from the whole body extract of the soft tick Ornithidoros moubata, as reported by Waxman, L., et al., “Tick Anticoagulant Peptide (TAP) is a Novel Inhibitor of Blood Coagulation Factor Xa”, Science, 248:593-596 (1990).
Factor Xa inhibitory compounds which are not large polypeptide-type inhibitors have also been reported (see e.g. Tidwell, R. R. et al., “Strategies for Anticoagulation With Synthetic Protease Inhibitors. Xa Inhibitors Versus Thrombin Inhibitors”, Thromb. Res., 19:339-349 (1980); Turner, A. D. et al., “p-Amidino Esters as Irreversible Inhibitors of Factor IXa and Xa and Thrombin”, Biochemistry, 25:4929-4935 (1986); Hitomi, Y. et al., “Inhibitory Effect of New Synthetic Protease Inhibitor (FUT-175) on the Coagulation System”, Haemostasis, 15:164-168 (1985); Sturzebecher, J. et al., “Synthetic Inhibitors of Bovine Factor Xa and Thrombin. Comparison of Their Anticoagulant Efficiency”, Thromb. Res., 54:245-252 (1989); Kam, C. M. et al., “Mechanism Based Isocoumarin Inhibitors for Trypsin and Blood Coagulation Serine Proteases: New Anticoagulants”, Biochemistry, 27:2547-2557 (1988); Hauptmann, J. et al., “Comparison of the Anticoagulant and Antithrombotic Effects of Synthetic Thrombin and Factor Xa Inhibitors”, Thromb. Haemost., 63:220-223 (1990)).
Others have reported Factor Xa inhibitors which are small molecule organic compounds, such as nitrogen containing heterocyclic compounds which have amidino substituent groups, wherein two functional groups of the compounds can bind to Factor Xa at two of its active sites. For example, WO 98/28269 describes pyrazole compounds having a terminal C(═NH)—NH2 group; WO 97/21437 describes benzimidazole compounds substituted by a basic radical which are connected to a naphthyl group via a straight or branched chain alkylene, CO or SO2 bridging group; WO 99/10316 describes compounds having a 4-phenyl-N-alkylamidino-piperidine and 4-phenoxy-N-alkylamidino-piperidine group connected to a 3-amidinophenyl group via a carboxamidealkyleneamino bridge; and EP 798295 describes compounds having a 4-phenoxy-N-alkylamidino-piperidine group connected to an amidinonaphthyl group via a substituted or unsubstituted sulfonamide or carboxamide bridging group.
There exists a need for effective therapeutic agents for the regulation of hemostasis, and for the prevention and treatment of thrombus formation and other pathological processes in the vasculature induced by thrombin such as restenosis and inflammation. In particular, there continues to be a need for compounds which selectively inhibit factor Xa or its precursors. Compounds that have different combinations of bridging groups and functional groups than compounds previously discovered are needed, particularly compounds which selectively or preferentially bind to Factor Xa. Compounds with a higher degree of binding to Factor Xa than to thrombin are desired, especially those compounds having good bioavailability and/or solubility.